Licking its wounds after a narrow loss to Michigan State, No. 2 Duke has the opportunity for a get-right game when it hosts SIU Edwardsville on Friday in Durham, N.C.
Duke lost 79-73 to No. 5 Michigan State on Tuesday in the Champions Classic in Chicago. Preseason ACC Rookie of the Year Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje finished with just five points in 20 minutes of play. Collectively, the Blue Devils (2-1) shot just 33.3% from the floor and 24.1% from 3-point range.
Michigan State scored 16 points off 13 Duke turnovers and outscored the Blue Devils 34-26 in the paint. The Spartans never trailed, with the game’s only tie coming at 2-all.
“That wasn’t Duke basketball,” said Duke fifth-year coach Jon Scheyer. “We did not play together. … It comes down to our lack of fighting through resistance, playing together and Michigan State outplaying us. Bottom line.”
John Blackwell led Duke with 17 points while Patrick Ngongba tallied 11 points, seven rebounds, six assists and four blocks. Ngongba said after the game he has been playing through an illness with Scheyer adding that the 6-foot-11 center “didn’t have his best stuff by any means.” Nonetheless, Ngongba leads Duke with 16.3 points and 7.7 boards per game.
Michigan State presented the first real test for Duke after it notched lopsided victories at home over Army and Coastal Carolina. After the Blue Devils face SIU Edwardsville (2-2), which averaged 19.3 wins over the last four seasons, their schedule only gets tougher. Duke faces nationally ranked opponents in Illinois, UConn and Florida between Nov. 17 and Dec. 1. All three join Duke in the top four of this week’s Associated Press Top 25 poll.
“Against Coastal Carolina, I thought we had some beautiful plays,” Scheyer said. “The thing is, as you raise the level, Michigan State has one of the best defenses. Some things that might have worked last week aren’t going to work this week.”
The Cougars are coming off a 96-58 loss on Monday at Missouri. Their two wins this season came against Division III opponents. Duke is the second and final opponent from a high-major conference SIUE will play this season.
Brian Barone is in his eighth year coaching the Cougars and has led them to four consecutive winning seasons. They won the Ohio Valley Conference and claimed their first NCAA Tournament bid in 2025.
Jordan Pickett (11.5 ppg), David Wilson (10.5 ppg, 5.8 rpg) and Gianni Cobb (10.0 ppg, 4.0 apg) lead the way for SIUE. Pickett is a four-year player for the Cougars, Wilson joined the team from Independence Community College and Cobb transferred from Northern Illinois.
“It is what it is. We get to go to Duke, we get to go out there and compete to go win the game. That might be one of the best teams on paper that I’ve ever seen,” Barone said of the Blue Devils. “We’re going to enjoy the opportunity to go out there.”
